


Turning page

by Elisexyz



Series: 25 days of Swanfire fic-mas [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Enchanted Forest, F/M, Wish!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 01:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16965516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: Baelfire accidentally stumbles across a princess looking for some company. This seems to be his first lucky day in a while.





	Turning page

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Warming up by the fire" prompt in the [ "25 days of fic-mas" challenge on Tumblr](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/tagged/25-days-of-fic-mas/chrono). I did tag this "Wish!verse", but I'm not taking too much into account Emma's characterization there, because I can't really wrap my head around how Snow and David could raise their daughter to be like that tbh. Anyway. Emma and Baelfire are teenagers here.

“You weren’t supposed to wander off that far,” the king reprimands, sounding more resigned than anything else and wrapping another blanket around Emma’s shoulders before quickly rubbing her arms in an effort to make her feel warmer.

Baelfire shifts under his blanket, glancing at the crackling fire in front of them: it’s been a while since he’s seen an _house_ , let alone a warm one, he is just hoping that his luck won’t run out too soon.

“Here you go, dear,” the queen catches his attention, smiling at him as she wraps another blanket around him. “Feeling any better?”

“Great,” he replies, without thinking. He’s still shivering a little and he can feel some drops rolling down his back, but at least it’s warm indoors. “Thank you, Your Majesty,” he adds then. Honestly, it feels a little ridiculous to have a _queen_ tend to him, if only out of courtesy.

“Snow will do,” she corrects, benevolently. “We’re really glad that you were there to offer an helping hand.”

Baelfire had been walking around, trying to keep warm under the cloak that he stole from some merchant on a carriage as soon as winter started to hit, when Emma spotted him. She pretty much did all the work herself: she explained that she was trying to learn how to skate on ice, that she could tell that it was fun, although she still wasn’t too good at it, and that she was sure that with someone else to play with her it’d be even _more_ fun.

He didn’t really have anything better to do, she has a very pretty smile that she kept flashing his way, and it had been a while since he last had some company anyway, so he accepted.

Which is how they ended up trying to skate together, hand in hand in an effort to gain some more balance. They fell over so many times that he’s pretty sure his butt is never going to be the same again – it wasn’t the first time for him, he remembers trying something similar when he was a kid, under his dad’s concerned gaze, but it was a long time ago and he was very small anyway.

Then the ice cracked, Emma fell over, and by the time he managed to help her out of the water they were both soaking wet and freezing. She quickly offered to bring him back to her home, and considering that it was likely his best option he didn’t think twice about it. She somehow neglected to mention that he was speaking to a _princess_ and that she was taking him to her royal _castle_.

He feels more than a little out of place in there, although her parents were very welcoming, as soon as they stopped fussing over their daughter long enough to even notice him – the image of parents worrying about their child made his stomach twist in a very unpleasant way.

Emma scoots closer to him, pressing against his side, and the king adds an extra blanket on both of their legs.

“We can escort you back home as soon as you’re dry,” he says. Baelfire feels the urge to advert his eyes – you aren’t supposed to look at a king in the eyes anyway, are you?

“It’s okay,” he quickly replies, shrugging and offering what he hopes is a convincingly reassuring smile. “I can go back on my own.”

“Nonsense,” the king waves him off. “I’m sure your parents are worried about you, it’ll be quicker. Where do you live?”

Baelfire opens his mouth to answer, only to find that nothing is coming out. ‘In the woods’ probably isn’t a dignified answer.

“Really, I can— I can go back on my own,” he tries, again, weakly.

“Come on, why are you being stubborn?” Emma intervenes, nudging him in the shoulder. He automatically turns towards her, finding that she’s raising her eyebrows questioningly at him. “A carriage is more comfortable than _walking_ , it’s freezing. Plus, I like you, if you offend them they won’t let me see you ever again,” she adds, and her grin suggests that she might just be joking, but the idea of offending two royals who could very well have him beheaded doesn’t exactly make him comfortable.

It must show on his face, because the queen immediately intervenes. “Nobody is offended here,” she assures, gently. “We just want to help.” She pauses, giving him a long, thoughtful look. Baelfire sits very still, as if that could help any. “Do you _have_ a place to go back to, Baelfire?” she finally asks.

His stomach sinks, and he can only dart his eyes from the queen, to the king, to Emma, catching a glimpse of her surprised leaning towards _pitying_ expression, before confessing: “No, Your Majesty.”

He drops his eyes, unsure of what to expect now that they know that they’ve welcomed a homeless kid in their castle, and an heavy silence falls.

“I see,” the queen finally says, slowly. “Charming, can I speak with you for a minute?”

The two of them step away to talk, and Emma nudges him to get his attention. Reluctant at the idea of discovering that her attitude towards him has changed – this is a _princess_ , come on –, he hesitates before turning.

“Where exactly _do_ you live?” she asks, frantically, her expression leaning more towards worry than anything else, which is much better than expected.

He shrugs, offering an hint of a smile. “The woods?”

“The _woods_?” she echoes, baffled. “It’s _winter_.”

“I have a cloak.”

Emma presses her lips in a thin line, and the pity finally appears. Wonderful.

“It’s not so bad,” he immediately tries to amend. It’s definitely an improvement after Neverland: sure, the island wasn’t this cold, but at least here there isn’t anybody chasing him around to use him for target practice, and he doesn’t have to worry about Pan getting creative to pass the time, _or_ about ignoring other kids crying all night in an effort to get some sleep— yeah, he’s definitely been through worse.

(He’s also been better, a long time ago, but he probably shouldn’t be thinking about any of that.)

“Don’t you have parents? Somebody?” she tries, and he hates that she looks so _sad_ now. He doesn’t know what to do with it, and it brings him back to the _worse_ , to kids crying and being sad all the time, underneath all the games. It also reminds him of Wendy, of how she looked at him when she apologized for following the Shadow, and his stomach twists some more.

“I used to,” he can only say, hoping that she doesn’t ask anything else.

Fortunately – or unfortunately? He isn’t sure he wants to be thrown out just yet – her parents come back right then. He has the feeling that Emma is now pressed against him more tightly.

“So,” the queen begins, with a friendly smile. The king is smiling at him too, and hope begins to eat its way through his stomach without his permission. “If you really don’t have anywhere or anybody to go back to, we have an empty guest room in here that we’d like to offer,” she says, gently. “Would you be interested in that?”

Baelfire blinks. “I— what?”

“You are welcome to stay, if you want,” the king remarks. His eyes move to Emma. “I’m sure Emma would appreciate the company, and we’d be happy to have you.”

“Uh, I—” he tries to answer, stumbling on the words.

This is such a bad idea. His dad is still out there somewhere, he’s pretty sure, and although it’s unlikely that he’s _looking_ for him, considering that he’s the one who abandoned him in the first place, if he _happened_ to find out— he isn’t sure what that would entail. He isn’t sure if his dad would be sad or angry, if he’d try to drag him back, if he’d simply kill everyone on his way for _daring_ to have him—

It’s a terrible idea.

But Emma smiles widely at him, looking all excited and encouraging, he can feel her vibrating against him, and he’s been alone for so _long_ , is it so wrong to just— try again? It ended badly with his papa, with the Darlings, even with Hook, but maybe this time he can find himself a family and keep it. Maybe.

“I—I’d like that,” he finally gets out, a tentative smile spreading on his face. “Thank you.”

The queen smiles warmly at him, looking surprisingly delighted at the answer, and the king proceeds to order that a room is prepared for him. Emma pretty much jumps on her seat in excitement, messing up their pile of blankets a bit.

She starts talking about how much there is to explore in that giant castle, about how she knows all the perfect places to hide _and_ to sneak out, and although she doesn’t leave him much room to get a word in he doesn’t mind: he’s way too busy grinning, unable to believe his luck.

Maybe, this is the one.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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